Constructive Patriotism: A sine qua non for a better nation
Recently, I came across a news article published around three years ago. It mentioned that the government of a state in our country issued an order making it mandatory for students in government schools to answer attendance calls with ‘Jai Hind’ not ‘Present Ma’am/Sir’. Officials of that government described it as a ‘move aimed at instilling a sense of patriotism among students’. This news stimulated me to write this article on Constructive Patriotism.
(Disclaimer: Any views or opinions represented in this article are purely personal and are not intended to hurt/malign the sentiments/feelings of anyone)
Prevailing patriotism
Patriotism, according to the Cambridge dictionary, is defined as ‘the feeling of loving your country more than any others and being proud of it’. It is more or less defined in the same way in other dictionaries and textbooks also. But unfortunately, it is treated and considered in the same way as previously described in our social life too.
Everyone will acknowledge that it is very essential to infuse the spirit of patriotism early in the life of a person. It is achieved by daily practicing protocols such as singing the National Anthem, taking the Pledge, raising the ‘Jai Hind’ slogan, and saluting the National Flag, during our school life. So, everything is fine till our school life and everyone is more or less a sincere patriot of our country. As we grew older, we express our patriotism in a slightly different way but still confined to following protocols only. Slowly, we turn our sincere patriotism into patriotism that can only be displayed. We all stand up to sing the National anthem before a movie starts. We all greet each other, update status on social media, and use the tri-color theme wherever it is possible on the eve of Independence Day and Republic Day. But why our patriotism is just limited to the mere display of our love and respect towards our country? Why are we not going a step ahead? Why our patriotism is not able to include actions that are useful for the betterment of our nation?
We all pray to God for India to win a cricket match. We are so elated if India wins a cricket World Cup. If India exits the World cup at the group stage itself, then we feel very bad. We all think and give suggestions/make comments on how to make a better team for better results. At the same time, we also need to look at the performance of our nation in international indices. In Human Development Index rankings released in 2019, we stood at 129th position out of 189 countries. Our neighboring country Srilanka (71st position) is performing better than us and even China (85th position) which is the most populous country in the world is better than us. Just have a look at the Wikipedia page for ‘International rankings of India’ to get a glimpse of our global position in various aspects. Did we ever think in the direction of why our nation is in those positions? Did we ever spare a minute on how to make our nation better in those rankings?
We are so happy when PV Sindhu won the Silver medal in Olympics. We also celebrate the success of other sports person whoever win medals for India and felicitate them. But the problem starts from there as we stop there itself. We never try to analyze our overall performance. Let us consider our performance in the RIO-2016 Olympics. We (nearly 133 crores of people) shared the 67th position with Mongolia(32 lakhs of people) by achieving only two medals. The other two populous nations China and the US stood at 3rd and 1st positions by winning 70 and 121 medals respectively. Did we ever felt bad about that? Did we ever think in the direction of how to make our country better in sports?
Constructive Patriotism
Did we ever retrospect with our friends on why we are like this? Did we ever introspect on what we are doing in our life for the betterment of our nation? Are we contributing anything other than being proud of our nation? Did we ever notice why China is better than us in many aspects? Did we ever contemplate with our friends on how can they sell us everything right to from small plastic toys to fireworks, smartphones to the raw materials for pharmaceuticals, and many other items? Did we ever think about how to mitigate the water scarcity we are going to face in the future? Did we ever imagine where the millions of tons of plastic waste that are being generated in our country are going?
We should always feel proud of our country. But at the same time, we should also feel responsible for our country. Showering love and respect, and feeling proud of our country are not the only components of our patriotism towards the country. We should realize that patriotism also includes showing concern for the well-being of our nation. It is very essential to reflect upon the present status of the country in many aspects and we need to start thinking, deliberating, and participating collectively towards the betterment of the nation which includes honest and constructive criticism. Our patriotism should not confine to a minimal showcase of our feelings but also should include our actions that are productive enough to cause even a small incremental change in our country.
Thinking as an integral part of patriotism
From our childhood, we study for around 18 years till our Bachelor's degree. In that, we learn about invisible particles such as atoms, electrons, protons, types of swords used by kings 1000 years ago, and also about stones used by humans 2000 years ago. However, we are now unable to observe the crucial problems of our society present in front of our naked eyes. We spend so many years of our lives studying things not useful in our daily life but sadly we are not able to spare a few minutes of our time on problems affecting/going to affect our daily life. Therefore, it is very essential for us to start making a habit of thinking about the problems prevailing in our society and sharing our views with friends and family members. We may not change the nation directly with our thoughts but our thoughts can help someone improve their awareness towards society and to some extent can lead to different thoughts that can help our nation. Therefore, we should realize that our patriotism should also constitute thinking towards the well-being of our nation and sharing those views with others.
Accommodating deliberations into patriotism
We may be divided by religion, caste, gender, language, region, but what makes us united? Yes, our nation will be the first answer but it is not the only answer. We are also united by our common problems. Pollution(in Air, Water, etc.), Poverty, Corruption, Poor Education and Health infrastructure, and so on. We have so many common issues that should motivate us to be united. We need to recognize that the common problems we are facing are deadlier enemies to our nation and we need to fight collectively rather than fighting among ourselves for religion, caste, region, language, etc. Whenever we start indulging in a verbal fight/discussion for our favorite cricketer, favorite hero, or favorite politician, we should immediately remember that we have many other important issues as well to discuss. So we should recognize that our patriotism should also include deliberations with others to fight against our common problems.
Collective participation an essential part of patriotism
We, the Indians, succeeded most of the time individually at the international level. When we heard Sathya Nadella as Microsoft CEO and Sundar Pichai as Google CEO, we all felt so happy and proud. All our media boasts whenever some Indian /Indian origin person achieves something great at the global level. The success of any Indian/Indian origin person at the global level is just a ray of hope that we too are equally good among the world countries. But it should not make us complacent as we need to remember that we are still struggling to achieve success collectively as a Nation in many aspects. So to achieve that, it is very necessary to make collective participation an essential component of our patriotism.
For example, we all exhibit our patriotism by paying tributes to our great freedom fighters on their birth and death anniversaries. But we should also remember that we can even express it collectively by casting our valuable vote on the day of Elections. Each vote polled in the Elections is a real salute to the sacrifices made to achieve democracy in our country. Sadly, the election polling percentage, in general, is around 50-60% in our country. But appallingly, many people in our present society are interested to vote for the candidates in the reality shows like big boss but not for the candidates in the Elections. And also, many have the patience to stand in the queues at D-mart counters but not at polling booths.
The way forward
Imagine our feeling when India is placed among the Top 10 countries in Human Development Index? Imagine how proud we all can feel when we are placed among the Top 5 countries in Global Innovation Index? Imagine how great we all can feel if India produces the best Economic Growth in the world?
So instead of stopping after imagination, we should start working towards its realization. It’s not that bad for not being ideal but it is very bad if we don’t put effort to become ideal. We should remember that it is very difficult to bring even an iota of positive change in our country because of its vast diversity in cultures, religions, languages, geography, and demography. So it is very essential for us to recognize the utmost importance of constructive patriotism and strive to embed it in our daily life rather than showcasing it occasionally. In other words, our patriotism should not be like wearing a grand necklace on a party day but should be like brushing our teeth daily.
Jai Hind
